38 U.S.C. § 7456 — Nurses: special rules for weekend duty

Page 1253 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 7456A fairs with a copy of any written statement provided to the appropriate committees of the Congress that sets forth the reasons for disapproval of any proposed in- crease in rates of basic pay under this order. SEC. 5. In the case of any other law authorizing an- other agency to use the authority provided by section 7455 of title 38, United States Code, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall exercise the same authority in the same manner as provided for with respect to section 7455 under sections 1 through 4 of this order, and the head of such other agency shall provide information requested by the Director as pro- vided for in section 3 of this order. SEC. 6. Executive Order No. 12438 of August 23, 1983, is revoked. SEC. 7. This order shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register. GEORGE BUSH. § 7456. Nurses: special rules for weekend duty (a) Subject to subsection (b), if the Secretary determines it to be necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of nurses at any Depart- ment health-care facility, the Secretary may provide, in the case of nurses appointed under this chapter and employed at such facility, that such nurses who work two regularly scheduled 12-hour tours of duty within the period com- mencing at midnight Friday and ending at mid- night the following Sunday shall be considered for all purposes (except computation of full-time equivalent employees for the purposes of deter- mining compliance with personnel ceilings) to have worked a full 40-hour basic workweek. (b)(1) Basic and additional pay for a nurse who is considered under subsection (a) to have worked a full 40-hour basic workweek shall be subject to paragraphs (2) and (3). (2) The hourly rate of basic pay for such a nurse for service performed as part of a regu- larly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty within the period commencing at midnight Friday and end- ing at midnight the following Sunday shall be derived by dividing the nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 1,248. (3)(A) Such a nurse who performs a period of service in excess of such nurse’s regularly sched- uled two 12-hour tours of duty is entitled to overtime pay under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, for officially ordered or approved service performed in excess of eight hours on a day other than a Saturday or Sunday or in excess of 24 hours within the period com- mencing at midnight Friday and ending at mid- night the following Sunday. (B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), a nurse to whom this subsection is applicable is not entitled to additional pay under section 7453 of this title, or other applicable law, for any pe- riod included in a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty. (C) If the Secretary determines it to be further necessary in order to obtain or retain the serv- ices of nurses at a particular facility, a nurse to whom this paragraph is applicable who performs service in excess of such nurse’s regularly sched- uled two 12-hour tours of duty may be paid over- time pay under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, for all or part of the hours of officially ordered or approved service per- formed by such nurse in excess of 40 hours dur- ing an administrative workweek. (c) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the implementation of this section. (Added Pub. L. 102–40, title IV, § 401(b)(4), May 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 235; amended Pub. L. 111–163, title VI, § 602(b), May 5, 2010, 124 Stat. 1173.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 4107(h) of this title prior to the repeal of that section as part of the complete revision of chap- ter 73 of this title by Pub. L. 102–40. AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 111–163 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: ‘‘A nurse described in subsection (b)(1) who is absent on approved sick leave or annual leave during a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty shall be charged for such leave at a rate of five hours of leave for three hours of absence.’’ § 7456A. Nurses: alternate work schedules (a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to registered nurses appointed under this chapter. (b) 72/80 WORK SCHEDULE.—(1)(A) Subject to paragraph (2), if the Secretary determines it to be necessary in order to obtain or retain the services of registered nurses at any Department health-care facility, the Secretary may provide, in the case of nurses employed at such facility, that such nurses who work six regularly sched- uled 12-hour tours of duty within a 14-day period shall be considered for all purposes to have worked a full 80-hour pay period. (B) A nurse who works under the authority in subparagraph (A) shall be considered a 0.90 full- time equivalent employee in computing full- time equivalent employees for the purposes of determining compliance with personnel ceilings. (2)(A) Basic and additional pay for a nurse who is considered under paragraph (1) to have worked a full 80-hour pay period shall be subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C). (B) The hourly rate of basic pay for a nurse covered by this paragraph for service performed as part of a regularly scheduled 36-hour tour of duty within the work week shall be derived by dividing the nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 1,872. (C) The Secretary shall pay overtime pay to a nurse covered by this paragraph who— (i) performs a period of service in excess of such nurse’s regularly scheduled 36-hour tour of duty within an administrative work week; (ii) for officially ordered or approved service, performs a period of service in excess of 8 hours on a day other than a day on which such nurse’s regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty falls; (iii) performs a period of service in excess of 12 hours for any day included in the regularly scheduled 36-hour tour of duty work week; or (iv) performs a period of service in excess of 40 hours during an administrative work week. (D) The Secretary may provide a nurse to whom this subsection applies with additional pay under section 7453 of this title for any period included in a regularly scheduled 12-hour tour of duty.